John 12
COMMENTARY:
: 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. (2812 “thief” [kleptes] means an embezzler, pilferer, a criminal who typically relies on stealth to take property belonging to someone else, or a person who steals.)
DEVOTION: Motives are always important when we have a reaction to a given situation. Sometimes people can see our motives but at other times we can hide our motives from most people.
Judas seemed to be able to hide his real motives most of the time. Here we find the Apostle telling Judas’ real motives after the fact. The other eleven disciples seemed to think that Judas was one of them. He would do everything with them. He was trusted by them because he was made the treasurer of the group. Whenever someone supported the ministry of Jesus he was the one they gave the money too. He paid any bills that they had.
On this occasion Mary came with a precious ointment to wash the feet of Jesus. She would wipe HIS feet with her hair. On a side note, her hair had to be long for her to be able to do it. Long hair is good for all women.
Now we go back to the account of her using the precious ointment on Jesus feet. Judas told them that the ointment could have been sold and used to help the poor. The problem was that he didn’t really care about the poor. He just wanted to get his hands on the money. One of his gods was money.
Today we have many believers that seem to worship money over worshiping God. Giving has been reduced from ten percent down to about two percent by most of those who call themselves Christians. God wants us to honor HIM with our money, so that, HE can bless us. If we are selfish we have to confess that before HE can bless us.
CHALLENGE: If we are complaining that the LORD is not blessing us the way we think HE should maybe we need to check our motives in the area of given to HIM.
: 8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. (4434 “poor” [ptochos] means beggar, destitute of wealth, of little value, be humble, relatively worthless, inferior, or powerless to enrich.)
DEVOTION: The LORD made a statement that seems to go against our present thinking. There are those who think that if we spend enough money to help the poor there will be no more poor people in our world.
Jesus seems to state that it is not possible to live in our present world without there being poor people. Is HE right? The answer has to be YES because HE is God.
Part of the problem of those who are poor is that many of them don’t really want to work to earn money. They want the money given to them. Even today we find some members of one family who are industrious and others who will sit and watch them work.
Jesus makes a statement that the mouth of the ox doing work should not be muzzled. The ox should be able to eat some of what he was plowing up. HE also makes the statement that anyone who is not willing to work should not eat. It is HIS principle.
If those who are believers are not willing to work to see the church move forward for the LORD they will not receive the blessings the LORD has in store for them. We are to all work for the LORD first in the church and then in other places.
I have told some people that their profession is Christian which means that is their vocation. Their other job is their avocation. If we put Christ first in our life HE can bless us.
CHALLENGE: Work until there is not a day we cannot work. Use your resources to help others. The LORD will bless us for our effort.
: 10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death (1011 “consulted” [bouleuo] means be minded, purpose, determined, take counsel, resolve, to reach a conclusion after a discussion or deliberation, or planned.)
DEVOTION: It seems like when anything good happens in a church or in a community of believers there are always those around who want to see if they can diminish it bringing glory to God.
The religious leaders knew that there was a change coming. They didn’t want the change. They thought if they caused the death of Lazarus people would move back to their side and leave Jesus. They were plotting to kill Lazarus, so that, they could benefit. They didn’t care that he was brought back to life. They were only concerned with what would make them more popular.
The Pharisees wanted all the praise and didn’t want to share it with others, especially Jesus. Remember that they did everything for outward show. Their insides were not religious. It was all show for power and personal worship.
Could this happen today in our world? The answer is YES!! We could want people to look up to us instead of looking up to Jesus. We need to make sure that we are motivated to cause everyone around us to worship Jesus alone.
Pride has to be put on the back burner, so that, God can get all the glory. If people move away from following us it is not a bad thing. They should be following Jesus first and foremost at all times. We need to get out of the way.
CHALLENGE: Remember what John the Baptist said “He must increase and I must decrease.”
: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (1391 “praise” [doxa] means splendor, brightness, glory dignity, honor, radiance or worship.)
DEVOTION: Who are we in good standing with? There were people who followed Jesus that didn’t want anyone to know that they were followers. They wanted to keep it a secret. They didn’t want those around them to know what was going on inside them. They wanted to stay in good standing with their friends. They wanted the honor that went along with being a religious leader. The status was very important to them.
The followers of Jesus have a choice to make daily. The Pharisees that made a secret choice to follow Jesus were afraid of being put out of the synagogue. Remember that there were funerals given for people who left the faith. To be put out of the synagogue meant that no one could speak with you or do business with you. It was a huge thing to be an outcast. These men wanted to be in good standing with their human friends rather than God.
Can we be people pleasers rather than God pleasers? This is a question we have to ask regarding all of our earthly relationships. When it is time to stand up for the LORD, do we do it? Or do we want to be liked by our friends? The choice is ours to make.
The people in Jesus’ day would rather have the honor of their human friends over honor from the LORD.
Our belief can be kept a secret from those we work with on a daily basis. Our belief can be kept a secret from our families. Our belief can be kept a secret from our friends.
We will miss the many blessings because of our choice. One thing to remember is that some people who want to keep their belief a secret may have never have really chosen to follow the LORD. These Pharisees who were secretive about their belief have to answer to the LORD for this choice. What are we choosing? Are we choosing to share our faith with all those around us or not to share our faith? Remember that it is a daily choice.
CHALLENGE: Pray about your courage regarding standing up for the LORD wherever you are. We don’t have to be offensive but we can be courageous.
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